Child Custody: Disagreements Over Residence

What do I do if we can't agree which school the children should go to?

In those rare cases where the parents strongly disagree about matters such as schooling, then the court is able to make that decision for the parents. This issue of schooling is covered under an order called the Specific Issue Order, and in those cases the court will take into account the wishes of the parents and the education that's available to the child. Rather than having an officer from Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service, like in residency cases, you'll usually have someone like an educational psychologist who might prepare a report and make a recommendation to the court about the child's education. The sad thing, of course, in doing that, is you're simply taking the decision out of the hands of the parents due to their disagreement. If the parents can find a way of reaching an agreement over schooling it's going to be so much better, even if that's not necessarily around the kitchen table, but perhaps in mediation or collaborative family law.

What can I do if my ex threatens to take my children out of the country?

If there's a real risk that children are going to be taken out of the country, or indeed removed from school and taken away or out of something, then what you can do is make an application to the court for what they call a "Prohibited Steps Order". A "Prohibited Steps Order" is simply an order which prevents a parent from doing something in relation to a child, such as taking that child out of the country. It's a useful order to get in those circumstances.

What can I do if my ex has taken my children out of the country?

If children have been taken out of the country in which they usually live, in which they're, in legal terms, habitually resident, without the consent of every person with parental responsibility, then they can usually be brought back. There's an international convention called the "Hague Convention", that deals with international child abduction, and there's a procedure by which children can be brought back to the country in which they usually live to have these sort of decisions made. So if, for example, the mother or father of your children has taken them to live in the United States, you'd be able to make an application to the courts in the United States for return of the child to England, and the idea is that process is dealt with pretty quickly, certainly more quickly than a full residence application.